A RAPIST who attacked a woman nearly 14 years ago has been jailed for eight years.

Darren Nicholas Jennings, aged 37, of Marlborough Road, Cheetham Hill was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of raping a 20-year-old woman in December 1991.

He was finally brought to justice following an investigation by Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) Cold Case Review Unit, which picks up unsolved crimes.

The woman had been on a night out with friends on the evening of Boxing Day 1991 in Manchester city centre when she was attacked.

DNA techniques at the time were able to produce a profile of the offender but officers had no suspects and the case remained open.

Then in July 2004, as part of Operation Advance, the Police Standards Unit at the Home Office announced the reinvestigation of serious sexual offences, using DNA samples recovered from previous investigations.

These can now be matched to a national DNA database made up of samples routinely taken by police during arrests and stored indefinitely even if a suspect is never charged.

The Cold Case Review Unit revisited the cases and a check with the database identified Jennings as the man who committed the rape.

Detective Constable Michaela Clinch, from GMP's Cold Case Review Unit, which investigated the case said: "The period since the attack has been a difficult one for the woman who Jennings raped. It was a brutal attack and she has bravely rebuilt her life over the years despite knowing that the man had never been caught.

"The man who raped her is now in prison, where he can not put anyone else through what she went through.

"Samples of DNA are never discarded and, with the ever-increasing advancements in science, we hope to be able to bring to justice more offenders who believed their crime would go unpunished.

"The unit uses the technology of today to solve the crimes of the past in order to prevent the crimes of the future."

Following Jennings' conviction his victim said in a statement: "It is a great relief to know that the man who attacked me nearly 14 years ago has been brought to justice.

"Hopefully this conviction, with the knowledge that justice has been delivered and no-one else is at risk from him, will allow me to bring complete closure to this period of my life."

Darren Jennings is the latest in 14 convictions achieved so far under Operation Advance resulting in sentences of between three years and life imprisonment for serious crime going back to the 1980s.

His conviction follows on closely from the conviction in Manchester of another rapist identified as part of Operation Advance. Bryan Keen was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for rape only three weeks ago.

Karl Barrow a retired Detective Chief Inspector working for the Police Standards Unit said about both cases: "The science would have been useless on its own without the courage and commitment of the victim in this case to give evidence and without the professionalism and dedication of the officers of Greater Manchester Police's Cold Case Review Unit who have brought these dangerous individuals to justice.

"This work is all about finally delivering justice and closure to the victims of these horrendous crimes after many years."